Calling it "way better than a laptop, way better than a phone," Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled his company's long-awaited iPad tablet-style multi-touch device Wednesday, with a starting price of $499 with Wi-Fi, or $629 with a 3G radio.

"iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price, Jobs said in a statement. "iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

Apple has dubbed the iPad "our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbeatable price."

Hardware

The device is 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds -- lighter than any netbook, Jobs noted -- and sports a 9.7-inch display. It also includes a 1GHz Apple-built A4 processor which includes the CPU and graphics.

"Everything is one chip, and it screams," Jobs said at Wednesday's keynote.

He also touted that device gets 10 hours battery life watching video, and has a one-month standby charge. It will come in capacities of 16GB to 64GB of flash storage, in models with and without a 3G radio.

The iPad features a 9.7-inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology. It has a 178-degree viewing angle and sports a 1024x768 pixel resolution display at 132 pixels per inch.

The hardware has many of the same capabilities of the iPhone and iPod touch, including an orientation sensor for switching between portrait and landscape modes, and multi-touch capabilities. The device even looks akin to a large iPhone.

Only U.S. data plans with AT&T were revealed at Apple's event Wednesday. Connectivity will cost $14.99 per month for 250MB of data, and $29.99 per month for unlimited data. It will also come with access to AT&T's nationwide Wi-Fi hotspots.

To access a 3G network, a 3G-enabled iPad must be purchased. The 3G connected hardware costs an extra $130.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said there are no international plans to reveal yet, but the company hopes to have them in place by the June-July timeframe. The device will come unlocked and will have support for GSM micro-SIM cards.

Software

Runs all iPhone apps
App Store application included

Default applications:
Safari
Mail
Photos
iPod
Calendar
Contacts
Notes
Maps
Movies
YouTube
iTunes Store
App Store
Current iPhone and iPod touch applications will work on the iPad. With just a tap, existing applications can be run in full-screen mode.

Also introduced was "iBooks," Apple's e-book reading application. Jobs credited Amazon with pioneering the e-book market with its Kindle, but said Apple intends to improve on that model.

"We're going to stand on their shoulders and go a bit further," he said.

Jobs noted that the hardware is a "dream to type on," and demonstrated how to read, view media and content and access applications on the hardware. It also includes a charging and docking station with an attached physical keyboard.

It includes calendar, address book, maps and music applications built-in. It also connects to the iTunes store.

It also has access to YouTube the streaming service's high-definition streaming content.

"Using this thing is remarkable. It's so much more intimate than a laptop, and it's so much more capable than a smartphone," Jobs said.

He then demonstrated browsing the Web on the device. Jobs sat on a couch on the stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and bought movie tickets on Fandango.

Jobs also showed sending e-mail, reading content and flipping through photos. Places that photos were taken could be viewed through the integrated maps application. It also allows a photo slideshow that works much like in iPhoto.

The touchscreen keyboard takes up half of the screen when the device is used in landscape mode.

Jobs also demonstrated a calendar application that looks much like the Calendar app available on the Mac OS X desktop. He also showed off buying and listening to iTunes content on the iPad, demonstrating high-definition clips from movies like "Up" and "Star Trek."

A New York Times reader was also demonstrated, with officials saying they wanted to capture the "essence" of reading a newspaper. The design on the iPad looks like a traditional newspaper front page.

Games were also given a major focus at the event, with Gameloft's "Nova," a new ESPN-licensed title called "Snocross," and EA's "Need for Speed" shown running on the iPad.

Also demonstrated was a Major League Baseball application that allows users to track live games, watch video highlights and view player statistics. The software will be integrated with MLB.com to view player "cards" and track standings.

Starting Wednesday, developers will be able to access a new SDK that will allow them to test their iPhone applications with a "simulator."

Accessories

iPad Dock: Powers the iPad, connects to a computer, and allows use for accessories through the Camera Connection Kit.

iPad Keyboard Dock: A dock for charging the iPad, integrated with a full-size keyboard. The dock has a rear 30-pin connector, which lets you connect to an electrical outlet using a USB Power Adapter, sync to your computer, and use accessories like the Camera Connection Kit. And an audio jack lets you connect to a stereo or powered speakers.

iPad Case: Protects the iPad and can be used in various positions. Users can type, look at photos and slideshows or watch movies with the case attached.

iPad Camera Connection Kit: Gives two ways to import photos and videos from a digital camera. The Camera Connector lets you import your photos and videos to iPad using the cameras USB cable. Or you can use the SD Card Reader to import photos and videos directly from the cameras SD card.

iPad USB Power Adapter: The 10W USB Power Adapter lets you charge your iPad directly through an electrical outlet. And the 6 foot long power cable allows you to charge it from an even greater distance.

Pricing

The 16GB model, without a 3G radio but with Wi-Fi, will cost $499, with 32GB and 64GB models priced $599 and $699, respectively. Models with 3G radios will cost an extra $130.

Welp, kiddies... It looks like you and theappleblog BOTH FUBARED on this event. You used the same supplier of what appears to be a stupid flash applet that acts (from when I connected to it way early and nothing was there) like a stupid f'in chat client. And... the supplier can't keep up. GRADE A FAIL!

One would think with the money that is made off the site you'd use a better system. Hell, the DHTML pages in the past worked perfectly. You should have stayed with them!

From the look of it, it's all going to come down to cost for me. Looks good, seems pretty well featured, but how much difference between that and a laptop in terms of cost. Much though the form factor is very nice, I'd prefer to work on a laptop.

10 hours of "best case" battery life is pathetic. It probably won't even last 4-5 hours under heavy use. They should have made it a few ounces heavier to get at least 8 hours of battery life under heavy use, which would translate to 14-16 hours of "best case" battery life...

I could see the rational on an iPhone, on a much larger screen like this, the reasoning for not having Flash is just stupid.

f. flash. forget about it. It's crap, and html 5 specifications just do away with it. Nobody gives a flying f. about flash anymore, even once flash websites have stopped using it, it's not user friendly, it's a hog on resources, there's a whole list on way flash sucks.